Ostendorf v. Clark Equipment Co.
Supreme Court of Kentucky
122 S.W.3d 530 (2003)
Michael Ostendorf (plaintiff), a Delta Airlines employee, was injured operating a Clark Equipment (defendant) forklift that lacked operator restraints — not required by safety regulations at the time of manufacture — when it tipped over after being struck by a baggage-carrier vehicle; Clark had voluntarily begun a campaign to retrofit its forklifts with restraints before the accident, but Ostendorf's specific forklift had not yet been retrofitted. Ostendorf sued Clark for breaching an alleged duty to retrofit and for negligence in conducting its voluntary retrofit campaign; the trial court granted Clark summary judgment, and an intermediate appellate court agreed no retrofit duty existed and no negligence occurred in the campaign, though it reversed on other grounds, prompting Ostendorf's further appeal.
Whether a manufacturer of a non-defective product has a legal duty to retrofit that product with a later safety improvement, and whether a manufacturer who voluntarily undertakes a retrofit campaign can be held negligent for that campaign absent evidence the campaign's conduct actually contributed to the plaintiff's injury.